Project M ・Anima: Diluculum
by Songstress on the Starry Lake
Summary: A year ago, Kai woke up with a strange feeling, two foreign but familiar objects in his possession and a butler he cannot remember why he hired. However, things appear to go normally until one day, when an overseas incident, a new but familiar girl and a duo of guys linked to his past awakens him from his falsely peaceful life...KaixOC
1. False Tranquility

**Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or any of its characters that I use here. I do, however, own the plot and any original concepts and Original Characters (O.C.) that I may feature. All OC character designs and any images I post of them will also be owned by me. I am also not writing this fanfic for profit, or to in any way affect the franchise's production or distribution. **

**Original Characters: For those who care there are (or will be) links to a profile picture for each O.C. I use that is of some importance in my user profile. If you are new to the story, I recommend you look at them as the characters are introduced in the story.  
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**Note: This story actually contains elements from Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Adventure/Action/Mecha/Drama/Romanc e but I could only pick two for the filters. While not AU, this does expand on the fantasy component of the mythos of the original Beyblade series as well as contain elements of Sci-Fi beyond what was present in the original throughout.  
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**Additionally, although some of you may be aware that this is technically a sequel, this story will require as little knowledge of the first to understand as possible. I will try my utmost to make this enjoyable without requiring following the first story (although you are still encouraged to read it obviously).**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

**~ False Tranquility ~**

* * *

The first stars of the evening hang brightly in the darkening, blue sky over the remote facilities of the American BBA building. The front door of the lobby opens and Judy steps out from it. She checks her silver wristwatch for a moment. The time reads seven ten.

'Good.' She notes with a bright smile. 'I've finished work early enough to have dinner with Max one last time before he returns to Japan.'

She proceeds to walk into the parking lot towards her car. Deactivating the car alarm, she gets into the vehicle and soon drives off towards the city. The lights inside the building dim one by one soon after.

...

In a much darker space, three silhouettes, a male and two females dressed in tight fitting suits, equip themselves with a variety of equipment. When the shortest of their group finishes putting on her helmet, the three emerge into the much better lit area behind the transport's pilot seat. Their pilot, also male, asks, "We're approaching the point directly above the target. Right now, we're at an altitude of 4,000 m above ground. Wind speed is to the northwest at 8 km/h. Are you three ready?"

"Of course we are." One of the females, the taller of the two, answers him in a laid back manner. "We were all at the briefing."

"Let's just get this over with." The shorter male behind the pilot says with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "I'm sleep deprived thanks to the six hour time zone difference."

"I agree." The last one nods simply.

"Alright, I'll be sending you instructions later on." the pilot tells them as they open the door of the helicopter. "Good luck."

The three of them then descend one by one from the aircraft.

...

Elsewhere, in a classy, skyrise restaurant, a waiter leads Max and his mother through the quiet setting to a table by the window. As the waiter seats them, Max admires the glittering cityscape outside.

"Wow, what a great view, mom." He says with his eyes glued to the outside.

"I'm glad you like it here, Max." Judy says to her son. "A colleague of mine showed me this place a while ago. Since this is the last meal we'll be having together for a while, I thought I'd take you here."

"Thanks, mom, you're the best!" Max thanks his mother.

...

Back at the American BBA building, a beyblade flies quickly into the glass doors of the lobby, shattering the structure. Three suited figures then dash swiftly inside. As they do, alarms sound throughout the building, calling on-duty security officers to the spot of their entry. The three of them stop as five officers rush in to confront them. The shortest of the three launches her blade at them and quickly disarms the guards, allowing her companions to knock them out with a few swift strikes in the darkened room. When all guards have been knocked down, a static buzz sounds in the helmet of the taller of the two girls.

"Feu, the security room is down the left hall." Their accomplice from the aircraft tells her through the communicator in her helmet. "When you get to the end of the hall, turn left and then right."

The one called Feu responds, "Got it."

As she heads down the left hallway, further instructions are given to the remaining two, "Auel and Luca, head upstairs. The fragment we want is on the highest level and their main database should be on the third."

"Yeah, sure." The male replies, he then turns to the girl beside him, "Let's go, Luca."

The girl nods and the two of them head to the emergency stairwell to go up.

At the security room, an explosive blows the door open. A blade soon flies in and disarms the three guards inside while its owner releases a thick smoke from a small metal container. The guards pass out quickly and are thrown out into the hallways. As the door to the room closes, the black suited female called Feu proceeds through the clearing room to access the computer controlling the major security systems.

"This is Feu. I've gained control over the security center." She reports to the others as she inserts a small drive into one of the computer's ports. "Now overwriting all stored footages. All linked security systems should be disabled in fifteen seconds."

"Good." The guy from the helicopter commends her.

The other girl, also clad in black, walks pass some knocked out guards and steps through the door labeled level three. As the door closes behind her, she reports, "This is Luca. I am at the third level. The mainframe supercomputer where the target data should be kept is in sight."

"Proceed to copy." Their coordinator instructs.

"Acknowledged." She replies as she approaches the main controls.

In a sterile hallway further upstairs, a beyblade ricochets off the sturdy walls of the facility's hallways and knocks out the weapons on the security guards' hands. A swift, descending midair kick then follows to knock them both out. As the male lands back on the floor, he reports, "This is Auel. Now at the entrance to level ten. Proceeding to enter."

"Good, we seem to be on schedule." The coordinator replies from the aircraft, he shifts his attention to a different part of the holographic map before him. "Luca, how are you doing on your end?"

The one called Luca types away with extraordinary speed and focus as she replies, "I've gained full access to their system. Currently copying targeted experimental data."

"Don't forget to delete the original and to corrupt their system's core files." The guy in the aircraft reminds her.

"I will not forget." She tells him.

Outside, loud sirens begin to approach the raided BBA building. Corresponding beeps sound on the holographic map on board the helicopter in midair. Knowing that their time is limited, their coordinator turns his attention to the one he had sent to the highest floor. "Auel?"

"Relax, Leo," he says, while cracking the security on a centerpiece glass case. It beeps shortly as the case opens and all motion sensors around it are disabled. "I got this one in the bag."

Police cars begin to swarm the outside area as the door to the roof opens and Luca steps out to join her companion Feu.

"I've completed my part." She reports both to her accomplice and their coordinator.

Feu nods and watches the sky. A few dozen grenades fall scattered around them and the area of the building, creating an intense smoke screen to blind the police below. Their helicopter lands before them, driving away the smoke in that spot and opens its door.

"Where's Auel?" the pilot, called Leo, asks.

"How should I know." Feu answers him, climbing in.

Luca follows her on board. Behind them, the door opens again and Auel appears with a small container in his hand. He runs towards the aircraft, "Don't forget about me!"

He climbs in with Luca and Feu's help as the helicopter takes off and out of the smoke. Once inside, the two girls close the door behind him.

"We're not in the clear yet." Leo tells his team as he checks their radar. "Police helicopters. Two of them."

Auel tries to peak behind them from the window. "They armed?"

"Doubt it." Leo answers. "But I think they're trying to tail us."

"We can't let them follow us to the rendezvous point." Luca says as she approaches the pilot's seat.

"Huh…?" Leo moves aside in shock as she climbs over him to the controls. He protests, "Hey, that's dangerous! Warn me beforehand…"

The others watch as she activates their aircraft's weapons. She then locks onto one of their pursuers' rotors and fires a missile towards it. The attack hits its target and the targeted helicopter begins to lose altitude quickly, leaving behind a trail of smoke. As its partner descends to save their comrades on board the falling craft, Luca increases their helicopter's collective and slams the cyclic forward, accelerating them off into the distance.

...

A car parks in the built-in parking lot of an apartment building in uptown Manhattan. Max and his mother step out from the car to the elevator where they begin to ride up to the floor of their home. As Judy is about to unlock the door, her phone rings loudly, disrupting her. She picks it up and hands the key of her apartment to her son.

"Yes, this is Judy." She answers the call.

Max unlocks their door but watches as his mother listens to the call with shock.

After a small while, Judy says, "Yes, I'll head there shortly."

She then hangs up.

"Mom?" Max looks at his mother curiously. "Something wrong?"

"The BBA's been broken into." His mother tells him. "They need me there right now so I'm going to head out."

As she turns to go, Max tries to follow, "Wait, mom, I'm coming with you."

"No, Max," she stops him. "You have a plane to catch early tomorrow morning. You need to go to bed."

"But…" Max wants to protest but he knows she's right.

"Don't worry, everything will be okay." She assures him.

He nods with a smile and heads inside.

...

The next day, the late morning sun shines brightly over a clear blue sky in Japan. Tyson stands in the waiting area of a brightly lit airport, tapping his foot impatiently as he waits for his friend, Max, to arrive. Next to him, Daichi is snacking on a bag of chips they had bought for him on the way. Kenny and Hilary wait with them on a nearby bench. A small laptop sits on the small boy's lap while Ray stands behind them.

"Last night, a group of three broke into the New York branch of the American BBA. Massive damages were reported to the building's main computer systems and a research artifact was reportedly stolen by the group. On duty security guards who were knocked out on the scene noted that the group was well trained in hand-to-hand combat and were equipped with a variety of military grade equipment, including hand grenades with sleeping gas and an armed helicopter for escape. Police investigators are unable to identify these intruders but suspect they are affiliated with…"

Kenny, Hilary and Ray continue to watch the report with their eyes glued to the screen in awe as a representative of the American BBA being interviewed reveals that road blockades have been set up around the facility without good reason, delaying police response.

Hilary asks, "Wasn't the last time that something like this happened around three years ago?"

"Yes," Kenny answers her as he continues to listen to the report. "If I remember correctly, that was when Max's friend Alan broke in, but that was an inside job. This time it seems to be different."

"I wonder what they were after." Ray comments.

A blond boy runs toward the group from the distance.

"Hey guys!" Max greets his friends.

"Max!" Tyson and Daichi runs up to him

Kenny, Hilary and Ray follow shortly.

"Welcome back," Tyson tells him.

"Thanks," Max returns. "How've you guys been?"

"We've been good," Tyson tells him. "But things sure weren't the same without you around, buddy."

Max smiles, "Awe, Tyson…"

As they carry on with their reunion, a group of four foreigners consisting of two males and two females walks pass them from the same direction from which Max came. One of them, a slender golden blonde clad in a blue and white crisscross halter top dress, catches Ray's eyes and he turns to follow the group with his gaze.

"Ray, something the matter?" Tyson asks, noticing his friend's distracted state.

"It's nothing…" Ray tells him. "I just thought for a moment that the girl who passed us by looks a little familiar."

The others turn their attention to the girl in question as she continues walking away from them with her group.

"Maybe you've just seen her somewhere else before." Tyson says. "We've been all over the world you know."

Ray eyes the girl one more time. "Hm…"

Unnoticed by the group, the golden blonde had kept her eyes on them as well. As they disappear from her view, she turns to face forward again but finds herself bumping hard into one of her companions in front of her.

"Watch it." The male bluenette mouths to her, annoyed.

She looks up to him apologetically.

"Give her a break." The guy with green hair next to her says. "She's probably just exhausted from the long ride on the plane."

"Yeah, whatever." The first guy shrugs.

"By the way," the second guy says, this time directly to the blonde, "The three of us have something to take care of after we check in at the hotel so feel free to go explore town to your heart's content."

The girl nods with a smile.

"Just don't get lost." The first guy adds.

She nods again. As she turns to look around the airport, the taller, red haired girl in their group eyes her cautiously.

...

A little while later, after Max had temporarily dropped his things off in a room at Tyson's dojo, Max borrows Kenny computer to make a video call to his mother. His friends, who had wanted to say hello, sits and stands gathered around him in one of the rooms. After waiting a few seconds, Max's mother picks up the call and appears on the other side of the screen.

Happy to see her son, she greets him and his friends, "Max! You made it safely, I'm glad. And hello there, Tyson."

"Hey," Tyson grins as he waves hello.

"Hehe, they all wanted to say 'hi'." Max explains.

"Well, hello everyone." Judy greets them with a warm smile. "I hope you're all doing well over there."

"We are," Kenny answers her cheerfully.

"So mom, how did things go at the American BBA?" Max asks with concern.

"Things are very hectic here at the moment, Max." She answers. Then in a more serious tone, she turns to the rest of them and adds, "As you all might have already heard, there was a break in last night. I'm not able disclose too much but since you guys were the ones who sent the item to me to begin with, I'll tell you this much: The research artifact that the intruders stole was the one that Kenny had sent to me last year. Since they've also erased all of our data on it, if you don't mind Kenny, I'd like to request whatever data you have of it on your computer."

Now, the group looks at each other and to Kenny, appearing rather lost. The small boy in turn looks around him and then to Judy more lost than they are.

"Me?" he points a finger to his face, extremely baffled by Judy's statement.

Judy looks at him, confused too now. She does not understand why they are confused. "Why, yes. You sent it to me a year ago. Did you forget?"

Kenny scratches his head for a moment to try to remember. "I don't think I ever sent such a thing…A bitbeast fragment?"

Judy appears surprised by this.

"Where would I get something like that in the first place?" Kenny asks.

Judy stares at him in silent shock.

"Could you tell me more about this please?" Kenny inquires.

"Hm…" Judy thinks for a moment. She then asks, "If I remember correctly, I believe you told me that the fragment came from a girl Kai came across called Lux."

"Lux?" Tyson repeats.

The group looks at each other while Ray thinks on it.

'I've heard that name somewhere before…' he notes in his mind.

"Who's Lux?" Daichi asks.

Now, Judy just appears baffled by their reactions. "Maybe I recalled the name incorrectly. I'll find the records of that email and I'll send it to you guys through Kenny, okay?"

"…Sure." Kenny nods hesitantly.

"Well, Max, I'll see you next time, okay?" Judy turns back to her son.

"Sure mom." Max returns, still confused by what his mother had just told them.

With that, Judy hangs up from her end, ending the call. Everyone then turns to Kenny.

Noticing, the boy exclaims, "Guys, I really didn't send her anything."

"Well, I don't think my mom's crazy." Max defends his mother.

"So you think I'm crazy?" Kenny freaks out.

"No, that's not it, Chief," Tyson calms him down. "But really, what was she talking about?"

"I don't know…" Kenny answers them.

Max thinks on it for a moment. The name "Lux" did ring a bell in him, just a very small one. However, for the life of him, he can't recall anything about it.

Unknown to them, a young foreigner dressed in traditional kendo garments sits outside the room in which they are conversing.

...

Downtown, before a grand hotel, a limousine arrives before a quartet of youths in a busy district. Other than the blonde who is still clad in the same attire as when she was at the airport, the other three have changed into formal business attire. As the driver steps out from the vehicle to open a door to the backseats for them, the blue haired babyface and red head steps forward to climb in. The green haired male with shades places a hand on his blonde companion's shoulder.

"We'll be back later tonight, so don't look so disappointed." He tells her.

She doesn't seem any happier to part with them however.

"Come on, we're not going on a field trip or anything. If you came along, you'll be bored in no time." He then pulls out a folded map and hands it to her, which she accepts.

She looks at him with question.

"I asked a tour guide in the hotel lobby to mark down all the interesting places in the city for you." He tells her. "Why don't you go visit some of these places in the meantime today? I hear there's a lot of interesting sights in Japan that you won't see in other countries."

She nods.

"Hey, hurry up or we're leaving without you!" the babyface calls to him from the car.

"I gotta go, okay?" The guy with shades tells the girl in front of him, turning to leave her.

She watches as the vehicle's door closes and the car leaves the hotel entrance. Having nothing to do now, she opens up the map her companion had given her and a particular unmarked spot on it catches her eye. She stares at it for a little while and then looks around. Seeing a nearby woman passing by, she approaches her.

"Excuse me," she stops the woman.

"Yes?" the woman responds.

The girl then shows her the place on the map that had interested her. "How can I get here?"

...

The bright afternoon's rays gently graze the lush, green scenery of a small secluded grove. Kai sits a small distance from a family of short haired strays. He had been taking care of this family of cats for around two years now, bringing them food on a regular or near regular basis. Today, he had again, brought and opened some canned cat food for them. He continues to watch them eat from where he is.

Two years have now passed since BEGA and in last year's tournament, Kai had once again failed to acquire the world title from his best friend and rival, Tyson. He did not do too poorly, though; the team he had played in, the Blitzkrieg Boys, had scored second place. However, this is the third time he had been seconded by Tyson and he is not happy with it. With his grandfather's deteriorating health and his approaching adulthood, his days as a blader will soon be numbered.

This isn't the only thing on Kai's mind, however. A year ago, right before the start of the World Championships, two rather unusual events had taken place. First, for a reason he cannot recall, he had hired a new butler to manage his estate. Although in hind sight, he regrets this action, due to the contract he had given his new household manager, he really can't do anything to get rid of him anytime soon. The guy was more than competent; he had graduated from a top notch butler school in England and his performance more than reflects what is stated in his resume. This effectively leaves Kai with no reasonable grounds as basis to fire him.

The other unusual incident happened one morning when he had awoken with a dreadful headache. The headache alone would not be very unusual or very memorable, though. It was the two objects that he had found tightly gripped in his hand that made the morning so strange for him. For the life of him, he did not know where the two objects had originated. He had asked his butler about this but the man simply stated he must've picked them up somewhere. Of course, Kai cannot imagine where he would just pick up an unusual bitchip and a thin ribbon with a golden bell attached and hold onto it so dearly in his sleep. He had attempted to use the bitspirit inside the bitchip just for a test run but no matter how many times he tried, there was simply no response from it other than a small glow. When he showed it to Kenny, all Kenny could confirm for him was that something was definitely inside but nothing more. His friends had proposed he send it to the American facilities to have it analyzed, but for an inexplicable reason, Kai could not bring himself to part with it and thus refused.

He now holds the bitchip and ribbon before him, in deep thought. However, his focus is soon disrupted by a rustle some distance away. Snapping from his thoughts, Kai puts away the two objects and gets off the ground to see what it is.

Peeking out from the trees that obscured him and his feline wards, he sees a well dressed young girl around his age with golden blond hair. In her hand is a partly folded map and she seems to be wandering around. He also soon notices her medium heeled sandals and notes their inappropriateness for the woodland terrain, or any terrain aside from flat concrete for that matter. Choosing not to say anything, he merely continues to observe her. Upon seeing her face, he notes her unusual eyes and familiarity.

The girl, not having noticed his presence, stops walking and looks around. She remains this way in an absentminded state for a little while, leaving Kai curious why she had come to the normally unfrequented grove. However, soon, something catches her eye and he watches as she takes note of an extraordinarily pretty swallowtail fluttering near her. As it leaves the vicinity around her, she follows it, both with her eyes and physically. The butterfly eventually flies in Kai's direction, leading the girl to him and she finally takes notice of him but too late as she steps on a rather lumpy part of the ground and falls forward.

Kai catches her with one hand and asks, "Are you alright?"

The girl mentally recovers quickly from the fall and nods in his grip. She then looks up to see the swallowtail disappearing behind some bushes and Kai observes a look of disappointment on her features. Unfortunately for him, however, she soon also notices something else…something that most would consider rather unbecoming and yet was completely accidental on Kai's part.

Kai notices this too soon after her, but sadly, he does not get any time to respond as the girl proceeds to elbow him hard in the face for it angrily before subsequently freeing herself from him and dashing off the way she came.

This…left Kai confused and rather sorry. Aware of why she hit him, he really would have preferred a chance to apologize to the girl; he didn't mean to touch her where he had after all. Besides, it wasn't his fault that she fell; she should blame her inappropriate choice of footwear for that. He was merely trying to catch her, really. She didn't have to run away from him the way she did…or hit him for that matter.

He sighs and concludes, 'Whatever. I guess if I ever see her again I'll tell her sorry.'

Of course, he is doubtful that he will see the girl again. He turns back to the cats nearby. They had seen the entire thing. He sighs again and mutters, "At least you guys won't make fun of me for that…"

Some of the cats meow in response.

Kai then notices one of the cats staring off in the direction of where the girl had ran. His observation and partial relief is cut short however, by yet another human approaching, this time, someone he is all too familiar with.

"Master Kai," the suited butler addresses him from a different direction than where the girl had come from.

"What is it?" he asks. He then adds, "And I told you that I come here to be alone."

"My apologies," the butler bows to excuse himself. "I thought I should let you know that a representative from a rivaling company has made a move to seize the deal that your grandfather's company was hoping to make with the military. Since Master Voltaire has made it clear that he wishes for you to be more involved in the company's matters-"

"Enough." Kai cuts him off. "I'll see to it when I have the interest. Go."

He bows again. "Yes, Master Kai."

Kai listens to his footsteps as he leaves. This was one of the reasons why he had regretted hiring the guy. He does what he is suppose to a little too well and seems to always be able to find him for reports like this even when Kai _wants _to hide from him. Deciding he might as well go see what's up with the deal he mentioned, Kai bends down to pet the cats one more time before leaving.

As he is about to reach the edge of the grove, a young man with ice blue hair drops down from a tree and greets him, "Yo."

Before he can react, he feels someone cover his mouth and nose from behind him and before he knows it, everything turns black.

* * *

**Okay, for a first chapter, this came out rather long. Let me know what you guys think. In the meantime, you are also encouraged to read the first story if you liked this chapter.  
**

**Til next time!**


	2. Awakening Past

**Hello~!**

**First, I'd like to apologize for the long wait and the delay per my original stated update time. (I got distracted by an anime called Psycho Pass.) That aside, I also had some trouble writing this due to a bad, lingering cough that has kept me bedridden.**

**Also, I know I said on the last chapter that this will require as little knowledge of the previous story as possible but unfortunately (for newer readers), this chapter does draw a bit on the previous story. As such, returning readers may find this a little more enjoyable than new readers but new readers shouldn't be too confused in comparison.**

**Lastly, as usual, I'd like to give a special thanks to all my reviewers on the last chapter: Brillerai, Delirium, Rebelle Boss, akin and Guest. I really do appreciate the support and feedback. :)**

**Now, on to the second chapter...**

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO**

**~ Awakening Past ~**

* * *

Slowly, Kai blinks his eyes open to greet a blinding light. He squints his eyes to adjust to it.

'Where…am I…?'

He looks around him. Other than the surgical light illuminating him, everything else around him seems dark. From the little light illuminating his surroundings, he can tell the place seems rather old. There also seem to be people – just two of them, though. He looks closer to try to see their faces but is blinded by the light before him.

"Oh, you're awake." One of them turns to greet him.

Kai immediately recognizes the speaker's voice as that of the one who had dropped down from the tree right before he passed out. For some reason, he sounded rather friendly despite the obvious fact that he had taken part in kidnapping him earlier. He tries to ask what they are planning to do with him but finds his mouth sealed shut with some form of tape. Glancing down, he realizes that he's been binded tightly to some form of chair or bed as well.

"Sorry about that." The previous speaker apologizes while angling the light away from his face a little. This lets Kai see his kidnapper's somewhat apologetic face. "Can't exactly have you make too much noise here and if you move around too much, it'll be a problem for Zane."

Kai then feels something cold brush his arm. Looking down, he sees his other kidnapper with a syringe in hand getting ready to inject something into him. Not wanting to be injected with some unknown substance, he attempts to wriggle out of his current position. However, he soon finds it useless as his body is still too numb to exert much strength on the ropes that hold him in place.

"Would be better if you didn't struggle…" the first guy comments, catching his attention again.

The other guy holds his arm still now and swiftly plunges the needle into his arm while he's somewhat distracted by his partner. Carefully, he pumps the liquid into him until none of it is left. Pulling it out, he quickly seals up the site of the injection with a few gauzes and a band-aid.

"It's done." The second guy disposes of the used medical equipment.

"Ah, good." The first guy then turns to Kai, "You stay here and sleep a little. You'll be a lot less confused when you wake up, I promise. And don't worry – that needle was new."

Kai watches in confusion as the guys turn off the light above him and leave. He soon feels a wave of drowsiness wash over him, putting him back to sleep.

...

In a large room inside Tyson's brightly lit dojo, Kenny scrolls quickly through each page of his email before moving onto the next. Page after page of message titles and sender names flash by his computer screen as the boy scans through all of them in a focused manner.

"You know, you've already tried having me search through everything with keywords, Kenny…" Dizzi points out to its master as he continues searching.

"I know, Dizzi." Kenny replies to his computer. "I'm just double checking in case there's something that might not have been picked up from the keywords alone."

"Honestly, maybe someone just sent it using your name and email and then deleted the records after they were done." Hilary suggests beside him. "I mean no one has any memory of this besides Judy."

"If they sent it using my email, they'd have to hack into it first, Hilary." Kenny replies to her. "I'll have you know I've never had trouble logging into my email so I'm confident that no one has changed the password without my knowledge."

"Well, that doesn't mean they couldn't have somehow obtained the password and used your account without you realizing." Hilary argues.

"True, but it'd be incredibly difficult since I change passwords regularly and frequently." Kenny then adds, "Besides, since I take full advantage of the case sensitive alphanumeric password coding on my email provider, I'm sure it'd be hell for anyone to crack my passwords by brute force. That actually only leaves the possibility that they either know the provider's method of encryption or that they somehow managed to record my keystrokes."

"You mean like a keylogger?" Max asks.

"Yeah," Kenny answers.

"But why would anyone go through so much trouble just to use your email and mailing address?" Daichi asks.

"Yeah, I can't see a motive for why anyone would go this far either." Max agrees with him. "I mean, it's not like sending research materials to my mom using Kenny's name gives any benefits the sender."

Tyson joins the conversation, "Well Judy did say that this whole thing came from Kai when he found some girl called…what was her name again?"

"Lux." Ray finishes for him. "That name somewhat rings a bell for me but I just can't put my finger on it."

"Speaking of Kai, has he replied yet to that message we left him earlier?" Hilary asks.

Max answers her, "Nope."

"Maybe he's busy today." Kenny suggests.

"Well, I'm going to try to call him again." Tyson gets up, beginning to make his way to the phone.

The others watch as he dials and waits for a response on the other end of the line. Not getting anything the first try, he dials again. Shortly after, it would seem someone has picked up on the other line.

Immediately outside the room, on the wooden, unenclosed veranda of the dojo, a foreign lad clad in kendogi sits under the moonlight with a small laptop on his lap. While Tyson converses inside the room behind him, he types away quickly, formulating an email in his native language. Soon finished, he checks it over and then sends it. As he does, a pair of footsteps approaches him.

"Hey dog, what'cha doin' here all by yourself?" the voice of Tyson's grandfather asks a little ways from him.

"Sensei!" the foreigner gets up to greet him. "I was just writing an email to my mother to let her know how I've been. She's missed me quite a bit since I came here to study martial arts."

"Oh you're one pious little dude!" Tyson's grandfather comments. "I'm proud of you!"

His student keeps his face down shyly. "Oh no, I'm just…"

"Hey, no need to be so humble and stiff all the time!" he tells his student. "Why don't you go over there and hang out with the other dudes a bit? You might study hard but you'll miss a lot here if you don't make any friends."

"Huh? Uh…" the student looks up to him a little surprised. "Yes."

With that, Tyson's grandfather walks away cheerfully as his student bows after him.

...

Downtown, a luxury vehicle stops before a large hotel. The driver of the vehicle then emerges and proceeds to open the door to the backseats for his passengers. Upon getting out of the car, the three passengers begin to proceed towards the hotel entrance. As they pass through the door, their blonde companion from earlier rushes towards them happily.

"Leo! Auel! Feu!" she stops before them panting a little. "Welcome back."

However, to her disappointment, two of the people she greeted simply walks on pass her, more or less ignoring her. The third however, pats her on the head.

"Hey, we're back." The green haired male tells her. "Sorry that we kept you waiting."

Happy that at least one of them returned her greeting, the girl shakes her head to express that she did not mind.

The green haired male smiles. Removing his hand from her, he walks with her to catch up with the others.

"So, Luca," he asks about her day, "Did you go anywhere fun today?"

The girl nods. "I found a pretty place today."

"What's this place called?" he asks.

"Hm…" she thinks for a little while. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" he looks at her surprised. "Well what's this place like?"

Luca lists the characteristics of the place she visited, "It has a lot of trees, grass, and a very pretty butterfly."

"Sounds like you went to a park." her companion chuckles. "And I suppose you enjoyed your time there?"

Luca nods cheerfully. "Yes. Well…except…"

"Except…?" her friend repeats.

"Except when I ran into a stranger…" she goes on, "I don't know if it was on purpose but he touched me in a perverted way."

The guy blinks at her for a moment. He then asks, "Did you report him to the police?"

Luca shakes her head. "No, I ran away."

"Well, just be more careful next time." The guy tells her.

She nods.

Ahead of them, the babyfaced male and the red haired girl wait before the elevators for their other two companions to catch up. Having been watching them the entire time and getting somewhat tired of waiting, the babyface comments.

"What a happy-go-lucky fool." He mumbles.

The girl beside him responds, "Well, Auel, what can I say?"

He turns to her.

"It's simply more convenient this way since she lacks common sense either way." She tells him. "At least like this, she's easy to manage."

The elevator going up now arrives. Auel and Feu wait for it to empty before stepping in and holding the doors open for their friends walking through the lobby.

"In any case, it's best that we rest up for the night." She says as their friends notice what's going on and hurry towards them. "We still have to go finalize that deal at the Ministry of Defense tomorrow."

"Yeah, whatever…" Auel mumbles, leaning on a wall of the elevator as Luca and Leo rush inside.

Now that everyone has made it in, Feu lets go of the button that held the doors open and presses the number for the highest floor of the hotel.

...

Back at the darkened room, Kai's eyes flash open as a splitting headache awakens him from his slumber. No longer tied up or gagged, he bolts up and clutches his head as the pain intensifies in the back of his skull. He begins to groan. At the height of the pain, visions of a past he didn't remember up until now begin to flood through his mind.

A spring breeze carrying soft flower petals over a lush field of flowers…

A silver beyblade and a gun shaped launcher that had the word "Extend" imprinted on it…

A tall, young man with a deformed wing sticking out one side of his head, and another, with light blond hair…

And lastly, an innocent golden blond haired girl who wore a bell around her neck on a red ribbon whom he had promised to protect…

Yes, everything is coming back to him now – all three months worth of his memories that had been masked over by fake ones generated and implanted into him by advanced neuroscience and nanotechnology. He never did hire a new butler last year and the items he had found in his grip that morning belonged to Lux, a girl he had been caring for, a girl who was unfortunately part of a cruel series of human experimentation in her past.

And that girl now…

He recalls his earlier encounter with the blond haired girl near the cats. Although his encounter with her was short, from her facial features and absentminded behavior, he is certain that the girl he had met earlier today was Lux. He even recalls purchasing the dress she had been wearing back in Rome a year ago…

"Hey, you're awake!" a familiar male voice greets him, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Kai turns to see a familiar face. Now that his headache had faded and his memories have returned, he sits up properly on the cold dental chair on which he had been laying and greets the guy back. "Wyvynn…"

"Yup, that's me." Wyvynn returns with a smile.

Kai remembers him now. He was an enemy of his who had changed sides and helped him a few times.

Wyvynn then steps aside to reveal the guy behind him. "And this is Zane. Do you remember him?"

Kai turns to the guy beside him. Although he can only recall seeing him once during the ordeal a year ago, he is certain that the tall pink haired man beside Wyvynn was working for the guy who was trying to capture Lux back then. He nods in response but is now a little more alert.

"Hey don't worry, Zane's not gonna cause you any trouble now." Wyvynn tells him, having noticed the stiffened look on his face. He then asks, "Well since you can remember who I am and even Zane, I take it you remember who Lux is too, right?"

Kai nods again.

Wyvynn then continues, "Good. Now listen, I'm going to explain a few things to you. First, about that butler of yours…"

...

At the Hiwatari Estate, the butler walks calmly down the hallway on the second floor. Stopping before a door, he looks around cautiously before briskly entering the darkened room. Locking the door immediately, he pulls out a small handheld device and switches it on. Soon after, the face of a middle aged man appears on the screen of the device.

"Have you found him?" the middles aged man from the screen asks.

"No, sir. There's still no result from the search team in regards to Hiwatari's current location." The butler reports.

"I see," his superior responds calmly. "Although I know you cannot speed up this search even if I tell you to, please understand that it is of utmost importance that you locate him as soon as possible. Considering the timing of this incident, it is very likely that the two who broke into Leviathan Two were involved. I hope you understand what this means."

"Yes," the butler replies. "It means that there's a chance they may have restored his memory using the stolen equipment."

"Precisely." his superior then adds, "In the case that his memory has indeed been restored, you are to permanently silence him."

"I understand," the butler responds.

His superior smiles, "Good. I hope your next report will be a favorable one."

The screen then becomes blank and the butler puts way the device before exiting the room.

* * *

**Okay, as usual, leave me some feedback (likes, dislikes about the chapter, etc). If you're shy though or you're not a person of many words, then leave me a number from 1 to 5 (5 as highest score).**


	3. To Introduce Again

**Hello, and sorry this update took so long. I got busy with exams in May, finished them, got distracted writing Nornir and putting art on deviantAart...but here I am!  
**

**I want to thank akin, Brillerai, Delirium, Scarlet Shizuru and Seria Arsena for the feedback. One of you gave me some advice and I will see if I can work chapter 1 again into what you want, but for now, here is three! Just a heads up for those who have not read the first story, it may be much less confusing if you have read it from this point on...  
**

**(Oh and enjoy the new cover art, everyone. You can find a larger resolution on my deviantART page.)**

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE**

**~ To Introduce Again ~**

* * *

A door opens just as the early morning's first rays begin stretching across the sky. The butler of the Hiwatari Estate stands with his head bowed slightly in greeting.

"Welcome home, Master Kai." He speaks in his usual composed manner.

Kai does not respond to him but instead walks right past him like usual.

Of course, despite acting perfectly normal around his butler, Kai is actually being extra cautious of him. In the short time he had spent catching up on what had truly happened one year ago with Wyvynn, Kai has learned a few things.

First, although obvious from a simple note that Lux had not been mentioned by any one of his friends for the past year, he was not the only one whose memory was rewritten. Tyson, Max, Ray, Daichi, Kenny and Hilary have all likely had their memories of her erased and replaced. The same is probably true for Tala and his team.

Second, of everyone captured on the Isle of Souls, Lux and Lok are the only ones who have not been returned to their daily lives. Kai knows that Lux is now in Japan, of course, but he finds it peculiar that the enemy did not simply kill him and his friends.

Third, the enemy is apparently aware of the possibility that they can regain their true memories – their memory manipulation technology is not perfect. Although the exact reason is unclear, according to Wyvynn, a number of people have been placed around him and his friends to keep them under surveillance. Amongst them is Kai's "butler".

"Young Master, might I ask what had happened today?" the butler asks behind him. He adds, "You've come home quite late, which is most unusual."

Kai stops and answers him, "Nothing happened. I just wanted to be out for the night. Is that a problem?"

"No, Master," he replies politely. "However, regarding that deal I had mentioned before, it would seem the rivaling company's representatives have managed to secure it. They likely have not finalized it yet. I had attempted to inform you of this earlier but you would not pick up your cell phone."

"It broke." Kai tells him simply. This is technically true; According to Wyvynn, he purposely broke it after discovering a tracker embedded inside.

"Shall I obtain a new one for you, Master?" the butler asks.

Kai nods to avoid unnecessary suspicion. For now anyway, it should not matter if the butler is able to track him down physically. He won't allow it for long anyway. Of course, considering that there was a tracker in his old phone, there may have been other modifications too and these will probably be in his new phone. He'll just have to put up with it for now.

As his "butler" acknowledges his reply, he heads off to his room.

…

The morning soon brightens up. Outside the hotel downtown, Luca watches her companions go with a lonely expression again.

Patting her on the head, Leo tells her, "Hey, don't look so sad, we'll be back."

"But…I don't wanna be by myself again all day." Luca tells him.

"Well, too bad," Auel then tells her harshly, "You're not good at business negotiations or at politics, so you'd only be in the way if you came along."

Luca watches as he and Feu takes their seats inside the limousine.

Leo then slips something into her hand, causing Luca to turn to the object and then to him.

"Here's a prepaid card that'll let you use the city's transportation system however many times you like." He tells her. "Just go hang out somewhere and try to have fun, okay? We'll try to find time free to spend with you as soon as things are done at the Ministry."

Luca nods.

Leo strokes her hair gently and then climbs into the vehicle as well, waving goodbye for the day as their chauffeur drives off on the road.

Luca watches as their car disappears from view.

…

At the dojo, Tyson dials Kai's home number again and waits for someone to pick up on the other end. Daichi sits not too far away on the edge of the wooden veranda fiddling with his beyblade and Kenny waits eagerly with Tyson. Eventually someone picks up.

"Hello," came a familiar and courteous voice on the other end of the line.

"Hi, it's Tyson. Is Kai in today?" Tyson asks.

"Yes, but I'm afraid he is asleep right now." the butler replies. He then asks, "Is it something urgent? If I recall correctly, you also called last evening."

Tyson thinks for a moment and then tells him, "Well, no. Not really."

"Would you like to leave a message this time?" the butler asks.

"Well alright, when Kai wakes up, could you ask him to call either me or Kenny back? We have to ask him about someone by the name of Lux. I don't know if he's heard the news yet but it's got to do with something that happened overseas with Max's mom and…Actually, it's a bit much to explain so just tell him to call us back, okay?"

There is a slight pause but the butler replies on the other line, "I will relay this message to him. Is there anything else?"

"Oh, no. Thanks a lot." Tyson thanks the Hiwataris' butler.

"Then have a good day, sir." The butler says before hanging up.

…

At the estate, Kai wakes up and begins to get dressed. He didn't really sleep too much despite not having slept properly the night before; his body is simply not accustomed to sleeping at this time of day.

He soon finishes fixing himself up and exits his room. Upon entering his dining room for breakfast, his "butler" greets him.

"Good morning, Master Kai," the man says.

Kai sits down at his normal seat pretending to be his usual self still. He asks, "Get me some breakfast. Anything will do."

"Right away," the butler responds.

He leaves and soon returns with a cart of food. After setting it up in front of Kai, he says, "Master, one of your friends left a message for you while you were asleep."

Kai does not bother to turn to him but continues to listen while sipping a cup of tea that has been set up in front of him. He can't really imagine what his friends could possibly want.

"Your friends asked if you know of someone by the name 'Lux' and mentioned something about the mother of one of your friends." He goes on.

Kai is surprised to hear this but tries his best to hide his reaction. He deduces that Tyson or one of the others, whoever called, must have somehow came into contact with Lux too or information about her. He places the cup of tea back down before replying, "I don't know anyone by the name Lux."

A short distance away from him, his butler studies his expression intensely. The butler then says, "They have asked that you call back."

"_You_ call back." Kai tells him. Right now, before he can get rid of the spies around him and his friends, he needs to keep the fact that he has regained his memory secret. To avoid trouble, he should stay away from any mention of Lux with others in case of potential slip ups. "This has nothing to do with me. I answered their question already, didn't I?"

The butler stands still for a moment but then bows respectively in compliance, "Then I will call them back for you."

…

Back at the dojo, Tyson receives a call just as Max, Ray and Hilary arrive. He listens to the speaker on the other line for a little bit while his friends who had just arrived settle down. He then thanks the person on the other line with some doubt before hanging up.

"What's up?" Hilary asks him.

"Well, earlier I left a message with Kai's butler and the butler got back to me just now and said that Kai doesn't know anyone by the name Lux." Tyson relays the message to the rest of his friends.

Ray reacts with doubt.

"So that means that the whole break in at the American BBA should have nothing to do with us, right?" Kenny asks.

"Maybe your email account really did just get hacked." Hilary suggests.

"But that still doesn't explain why whoever did it knows to use Kai's name." Max argues, in doubt.

"Maybe Kai's the one who hacked into the Chief's email!" Daichi suggests.

"No way! Why would he do that?" Hilary counters.

"Hilary's right. Kai wouldn't do that." Tyson agrees.

"He can just ask me after all…" Kenny reasons, still in thought.

The five of them are quiet for a moment.

Getting frustrated, Tyson breaks the silence, "Gaah! You know what, let's forget about this for today. We arranged a barbecue at the beach today to celebrate Max's return, right? Let's go have some fun? What do you say, guys?"

"Well, I'm in." Daichi agrees immediately.

"At a time like this!?" Hilary asks them both in disbelief.

The other two are also unsure about this.

"Guys?" Tyson asks again.

Max gives in, "Well, sitting here and thinking about it isn't giving us any leads. I guess we might as well have some fun."

"Ray?" Tyson turns to him.

"Well, if you guys are up for it, I guess I won't object." Ray replies.

"Hm…I guess when I get home tonight, I could go through my old disks to see if there's anything at all related to this. Ray did say yesterday that the name is familiar to him." Kenny then adds a conjecture, "Maybe I somehow got involved in something and brushed it off without finding out what it was and hence don't remember it…"

Nearby, the young foreign student leans against a pillar and continues to listen in on their conversation.

…

The sun soon passes the celestial meridian. Not exactly interested in wasting his time with a deal that his grandfather's company has already lost while he was kidnapped by Wyvynn, he goes off again to relax for the day. Knowing his "butler", this will probably be his one day free before he receives a new tracker implanted phone. During the time that has passed, he has considered several plans already of bypassing this method of surveillance. He would need this if he ever intends to get rid of this so-called "butler". With this kind of surveillance on, and potentially more, the man would probably be easily alerted if he tries to make a move against him. So far, none of the plans he has come up with yet seem foolproof.

He walks through the park towards the usual spot where the stray cats are. Recalling the events of the day before, he wonders if there is any chance he might encounter Lux again. After all, despite seemingly unable to recognize or remember him, she did choose to appear at the normally deserted spot out of all places. However, from her reaction to him yesterday, even if the place does still hold some special meaning to her, he wonders if he might have accidently scared her away for good. He has thought about hiring someone to keep track of her location until he gets rid of the spies around him and his friends but dismissed the idea based on the fact that he has no idea for now if his butler has any way of keeping track of his financial spendings. On top of that, Lux doesn't even remember him and for all he knows, may have grown to like someone else. This last part disappoints him somewhat.

Soon, he reaches the spot where the strays live. However, something is usual about the place today. Normally the spot is quiet and unless one carefully inspects, it is not noticeable that a family of strays live here. Today, on the other hand, the place is rather lively. Peeking through the trees a little, Kai sees the same girl as yesterday sitting on the grass playing with the cats with a simple, small ball. She is still well-dressed but no longer wearing the dress from yesterday. Instead, today she is wearing a thin bolero jacket over a lavender corset top and matching lavender, frilled miniskirt. Just as the day before, she seems to have chosen rather unsuitable footwear for walking through lumpy land, but at least today, despite it having heels again, it is a pair of knee-high boots.

He ponders on if or not to approach her. From the way she had reacted to his little accident earlier the day before, he would not be surprised if she remains hostile to him. However, he'd still like to interact with her. How should he approach her so he may apologize?

A chance to decide on something never really comes to him however. Soon, the girl notices him and immediately attempts to flee, believing him to mean harm.

"Wait!" Kai calls after her.

Luckily for him, her inappropriate choice of shoes for this kind of terrain seems to be on his side today. The girl soon steps on something lumpy and loses her balance, falling onto the grass. This gave Kai the time he needs to catch up to her.

"Are you okay?" he asks her, trying to help her up.

She rejects his aid however and attempts again to run, but this time, Kai catches her by the wrist.

"Wait, stop! I'm not trying to hurt you." Kai tells her as she tries to struggle out of his grasp. "I'm just trying to apologize for yesterday."

At this, Lux stops struggling and looks up at him. Seeing his calm and sincere expression, she relaxes, but remains quiet.

"Sorry," Kai apologizes. "Yesterday was an accident. I didn't mean it and I didn't mean to scare you just now. Relax, okay?"

Lux nods.

"So are you okay?" Kai moves on. "You didn't get hurt from the fall just now, did you?"

Lux shakes her head. She would have left him but Kai, eager to continue his conversation with her, introduces himself to her, "I'm Kai."

Lux turns back to him.

"Are you…from around here?" Kai asks, a little unsure what to say to keep her from leaving. He doesn't want her to leave, but knows that it's not as though he has the leisure to spend much time with her after today. With that "butler" around, today is probably his only tracker-free day until he resolves the situation.

Lux shakes her head. "I'm visiting this country with some friends."

Kai responds, "I see."

There is a pause as Kai struggles to think of something to say. He wonders who these "friends" are, however. Lux stares at him rather blankly in wait.

"What's…your name?" Kai asks. This was probably the most awkward thing of him to ask since he already knows, but at least it gives him more time to think of something to say to her.

Lux turns back to him. "Luca."

At this, Kai snaps his attention to her. 'Luca…?'

Lux observes his reaction with silent curiosity.

Kai then asks, "Where are you from? You said you're visiting…"

Of course, in truth, he also knows the answer to that too. However, chances are, the people who captured them on that island probably replaced that piece of information in her mind.

"Austria." She answers him simply.

Just for the sake of continuing the conversation, Kai asks her, "What's it like there?"

"Hm…I'm not sure." Lux responds. "I'm mostly traveling but when I'm not, I'm with my father in Munich."

"Munich?" Kai repeats, curious. And who is this "father" of hers? Her entire immediate family should be dead. "Why there if you're from Austria?"

"Because my father works as a professor at one of the universities there." She answers.

Kai then debates the verity of this information in his mind. Either way, from what he can see, in Lux's eyes, she seems to be living a peaceful life. But that's not really the case, is it? Those friends she mentioned…who are they? What are they trying to do here?

A soft meow sounds nearby, catching both of their attention. Kai turns to see a familiar feline approaching them. It meows again and then slowly approaches Lux. Kai remembers that this is the cat that had really liked Lux.

Bending down on her knees, Lux greets the now grown kitten, "Hello,"

The cat responds with a happy meow and gently rubs its face against her hand. She pets it and pretty much just stays with it.

"He's fond of you." Kai points out to her. From what he remembers, the Lux he had known before had a fondness for many different kinds of animals, including cats.

She simply nods happily, gently stroking the small feline's fur. She picks up the small kitten and gets up. Approaching Kai with the cat in her arms, she holds him out to allow Kai to pet the small creature. Kai, taking up the invitation, reaches his hand out to pet the kitten but before he can retreat his hand, a swift set of claws lashes out at him, leaving behind a small, shallow injury.

Kai hisses at the pain a little.

Lux, concerned, comes closer to him to examine his wound. She apologizes, "I'm sorry!"

"It's fine." Kai tells her, nursing the small cut. It' not the first time he has been scratched by a cat. Despite him having been coming and feeding these cats for the past three years, they still seem to react to him with some hostility. Still, they accept the food he brings them and sometimes show him signs of care.

Lux lets the cat back onto the ground and reaches into her purse. Pulling out a small band aid, she offers it to him, "Here."

Kai accepts it, "Thanks."

Lux smiles as he puts it over the small cut. The cat leaves and returns to the rest of its family. Lux watches it go, a little disappointed. "He left…"

There is a short pause before Lux returns her attention to him.

"It was nice meeting you, but I'm going to go now, okay?" she tells him. She then adds apologetically, "I'm sorry the cat scratched you."

"It's fine," Kai tells her. He then adds, "It…was nice meeting you too. And sorry again for last time…"

Lux smiles innocently and then turns to go.

Kai watches her as she disappears from view. He would have liked if she stayed longer, but he knew it was improbable. To her, he is someone she just met. Looking on the bright side, at least he was able to converse with her, albeit only for a small while. She seems to have changed too. She can speak properly now and seems to have grown out of the blank state she had previously been in. He wonders if this happened naturally or if it was some artificial process, but for now, he shrugs that off.

…

At the beach, Ray and Kenny stand by the grill, flipping over the pieces of meat to cook them thoroughly. The others, Tyson, Daichi, Max and Hilary seem to be having a fun game of beach volleyball. Despite the fun atmosphere, Kenny's thoughts seem to be focused on the recent chain of events. Pondering a little too hard on the inconsistencies of the information provided by Judy, he accidently lets a piece of meat burn, prompting Ray to snap him back to reality.

"Kenny?" Ray calls to him, flipping the slightly burned piece of meat for him. "You okay?"

"Yeah…" Kenny responds. "I was just a little distracted."

Understandingly, Ray asks, "By the incident Judy requested, right?"

Kenny nods. He adds, "It just doesn't make sense to me. Nothing's adding up…"

"I agree with you." Ray concurs. "That name does ring a bell for me, so I don't think this whole thing is completely unrelated to us, but everything else just points the opposite way."

"Yeah…" Kenny sighs. "And Kai says he doesn't know of anyone by that name."

They continue cooking silently for a little while, flipping some meat pieces and placing others onto a plate to be served soon. They are soon distracted however by a scream from Tyson. Turning in the direction of their friends, they see Tyson holding a ball and frantically trying to wade out of the water. Not sure what's going on, they continue to watch.

"Help me! Something's grabbed onto my foot!" Tyson cries as Hilary, Daichi and Max approach.

Joining the rest, Ray, Max, Daichi, Hilary and Kenny discovered that the "something" that has grabbed onto Tyson's foot is an injured young, dark skinned woman in a stained labcoat.

* * *

**Okay, I will try to update again soon. For now, leave me any feedback you have. Don't hesitate to tell me if you think it was bad. I'd rather that than silence.**

**Ciao~!**


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